Game roundup retrospective
I played a lot of different games this year, which is actually kind of unusual for me. I'm not one to play a little of many different games, but generally a lot of few individual games. That being said, I had a great time not only playing all of the games I did this year, but also writing my mini reviews / summaries for of all them. I put a lot of time and effort into both writing the posts and also improvements to the actual blog itself. I learned a lot about how I write, how I want to be able to write, and when is too much. I definitely struggled with the "too much" aspect of these posts. In the future I plan on putting more effort into keeping these more bite sized and general. I put far too many specific details into some of my summaries and ended up leaning to heavily into critical reviews rather than approachable bite sized summaries.
Anyways, lets get into the awards!
Multiplayer award
This award goes to a game that is generally exclusively played with other people and may not have appeared in the roundups.
This is an extremely fun mod of Smash 64 and breathes a metric tonne of life into the original game. Well worth trying with friends. Even single player classic and all-star mode are very fun.
Most surprising award
This award goes to the game that I was most surprised by.
I genuinely did not expect to become so obsessed with this game while playing it. It certainly was not the most auspicious game I expected to play during that time. Original write up can be found here.
Indie award
This award goes a game that was not published or made by a AAA developer.
Immortality has so many rave reviews and they are all well deserved. I didn't expect to still be thinking about the game and its themes a full year later, but here we are. Original write up can be found here.
Retro award
This award goes to a game that released in a time when flat screen TVs were a rarity.
I finally understand the love for this game. Often times an older game can feel outdated by those that have iterated on it, but Symphony of the Night still shines in its own right. Original write up can be found here.
Actually came out in 2024 award
This award goes to a game that actually released during the 2024 calendar year.
Animal Well is one of those games where if you're into it, you get really into it. The level of depth, detail, and design are all well crafted and a casual play through still feels like a complete experience. Original write up can be found here.
Game of the Three Thirds™ award
This award goes to the overall best game I played this year, and is outstanding in all categories.
I don't know what more can be said about Alan Wake 2. Well, that's a lie, I could talk about it for hours on end. It feels like everything I love about various media distilled into a singular experience. While I like to give music, movies, and games at least a year before saying they have earned a spot in my all time favourites, I can pretty confidently say you will find it in that list. Original write up can be found here for the base game and here for the DLC.